ASU (6-3) junior pitcher Eli Lingos helped the Sun Devils scrape by Loyola Marymount University (4-6) on Friday, 2-1,
Lingos had an excellent game, throwing for six strikeouts in a career high 7.2 innings, without allowing a walk or an earned run — 72 of his 106 pitches were strikes.
Friday's win gave Lingos a 3-0 record on the season. He said getting ahead of the count early and trusting his pitches were key parts to his success.
"My changeup in both those outings was working pretty well, and when I can command that, it usually works out pretty well," Lingos said.
Head coach Tracy Smith echoed Lingos assessment of his performance.
"He's been really good at getting ahead," Smith said. "To pitch ahead makes your job a lot easier. Eli has been by far the most consistent for us in doing that. Tonight was just another case."
In spite of Lingos' spectacular night, the Sun Devils struggled in securing the victory because of LMU's senior pitcher Blake Redman.
Redman pitched for six innings, struck out eight batters, had zero walks and gave up two earned runs – surrendering his first hit in the sixth inning.
"I think that was a perfect example," Smith said. "To watch not only Lingos but their guy Redman and how many times they were ahead in the count, getting strike one."
Despite struggling against Redman all night, ASU managed to get just enough off him in the sixth inning.
It started with a triple from sophomore right fielder Gage Canning, who soon found his way to home plate thanks to an RBI single from senior second baseman Jackson Willeford.
"When I got down to two strikes, kind of just took my stride away, choked up on the bat," Willeford said. "Then finally got one where I just blooped it right over third."
The Sun Devils then took the lead with an RBI single from junior center fielder Andrew Shaps.
You can count on Shaps to hit it in the gaps.
— Sun Devil Baseball (@ASU_Baseball) March 4, 2017
He sends Willeford home and the Devils lead it 2-1!@Pac12Network https://t.co/26fy1ATt4Q
Smith was happy with the win, but didn't appreciate the errors made by his team — something that has plagued them in previous games.
"It's very frustrating," Smith said. "That game could go either way. We're very lucky to win that game because their guy was on. And if you sit there and we're talking at this table right now and we lose that game 1-0 because we were lazy on turning a double play ball and flat out missed a ball at first base, that's a pretty tough pill to swallow."
Smith the team will have to focus on improving defensively.
ASU had three defensive errors, but biggest was made by sophomore first baseman Andrew Snow, who mishandled a throw and allowed an LMU runner to score. That mistake gave LMU a 1-0 lead in the fourth.
The Sun Devils will stay at Phoenix Municipal Stadium for their next game against Loyola Marymount on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at mpharri7@asu.edu or follow @Harris_Mark7 on Twitter.
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